Cencora Inc (COR) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's Cencora Q4 Full Year 2024 earnings call. My name is Drew, and I'll be the operator today. (Operator Instructions) I'll now hand over to our first speaker, Bennett Murphy. Please go ahead when you're ready.

大家好，歡迎參加今天的 Cencora 2024 年第四季全年財報電話會議。我叫德魯，今天我是接線生。（操作員指示）我現在將交給第一位發言人貝內特墨菲 (Bennett Murphy)。準備好後請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us for this conference call to discuss Cencora's fiscal 2024 fourth quarter and full year results. I'm Bennett Murphy, Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations and Treasury. Joining me today are Bob Mauch, President and CEO; and Laz Krikorian, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer.

謝謝。早上好，下午好，感謝大家參加這次電話會議，討論 Cencora 2024 財年第四季和全年業績。我是貝內特‧墨菲 (Bennett Murphy)，資深副總裁兼投資者關係與財務主管。今天加入我的是總裁兼執行長鮑伯‧莫奇 (Bob Mauch)；以及資深副總裁兼首席會計官 Laz Krikorian。

On today's call, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures to GAAP are provided in today's press release, which is available on our website at investor.cencora.com. We have also posted a slide presentation to accompany today's press release on our investor website.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將討論非公認會計準則財務指標。今天的新聞稿中提供了這些措施與 GAAP 的對賬，該新聞稿可在我們的網站 Investor.cencora.com 上取得。我們還在投資者網站上發布了幻燈片演示文稿，以配合今天的新聞稿。

During this conference call, we will make forward-looking statements about our business and financial expectations on an adjusted non-GAAP basis, including, but not limited to, EPS, operating income and income tax. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and change. For a discussion of key risks and assumptions, we refer you to today's press release and our SEC filings, including our most recent 10-K.

在本次電話會議期間，我們將在調整後的非公認會計準則基礎上就我們的業務和財務預期做出前瞻性陳述，包括但不限於每股收益、營業收入和所得稅。前瞻性陳述是基於管理階層目前的預期，並可能受到不確定性和變化的影響。有關關鍵風險和假設的討論，我們建議您參閱今天的新聞稿和我們向 SEC 提交的文件，包括我們最新的 10-K。

Cencora assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and this call cannot be broadcast without the express permission of the company. You'll have an opportunity to ask questions after today's remarks by management. We ask that you limit your questions to one per participant in order for us to get to as many participants as possible within the hour.

Cencora 不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務，未經本公司明確許可不得廣播本次電話會議。在管理層今天發表講話後，您將有機會提問。我們要求您將問題限制為每位參與者一個問題，以便我們在一小時內接觸到盡可能多的參與者。

With that, I will turn the call over to Bob.

這樣，我會將電話轉給鮑伯。

Thank you, Bennett. Hi, everyone, and thank you for joining Cencora's fiscal 2024 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call. Before we get started today, I'd like to let everyone know that our CFO, Jim Cleary, has been under the weather for the past few days after successfully and impressively completing the New York City Marathon. Jim is unable to join the call today, but he was part of preparing today's remarks, which will be presented by our Chief Accounting Officer, Laz Krikorian. We wish Jim a speedy recovery, and I know he is looking forward to engaging with everyone in the coming weeks.

謝謝你，貝內特。大家好，感謝您參加 Cencora 的 2024 財年第四季財報電話會議。在今天開始之前，我想讓大家知道，我們的財務長吉姆·克利裡 (Jim Cleary) 在成功並令人印象深刻地完成紐約市馬拉鬆比賽後，過去幾天一直身體不舒服。Jim 無法參加今天的電話會議，但他參與了準備今天的演講的工作，該演講將由我們的首席會計官 Laz Krikorian 發表。我們祝吉姆早日康復，我知道他期待在未來幾週內與每個人接觸。

It's a pleasure to be speaking with you today for the first time since assuming the role of President and CEO of this incredible company to discuss the strong results our global enterprises delivered this year, including growing our adjusted earnings by 15%. I'm honored to take the helm of a purpose-driven growth-oriented business with an unparalleled portfolio of customers ranging from pharmaceutical companies to health care providers across continents. I'm focused on continuing to execute our strategy while amplifying the things within our culture that have made us successful.

自從擔任這家令人難以置信的公司的總裁兼首席執行官以來，今天很高興第一次與您交談，討論我們的全球企業今年取得的強勁成果，包括調整後收益增長 15%。我很榮幸能夠掌管一家以目標為導向、以成長為導向的企業，擁有無與倫比的客戶組合，從各大洲的製藥公司到醫療保健提供者。我專注於繼續執行我們的策略，同時擴大我們文化中使我們成功的因素。

In fiscal 2024, Cencora continued to benefit from the strength of our customer relationships, the capabilities of our business, our international footprint and the collective expertise of our team members. This year, we made important progress by investing in our core distribution infrastructure, deepening strategic partnerships, leveraging data and analytics and continuing to build on our strength in specialty.

2024 財年，Cencora 繼續受益於我們強大的客戶關係、業務能力、國際足跡和團隊成員的集體專業知識。今年，我們透過投資核心分銷基礎設施、深化策略合作夥伴關係、利用數據和分析以及繼續增強我們的專業實力，取得了重要進展。

Specialty has been a key differentiator for Cencora for decades, and specialty pharmaceuticals are now everywhere across our business, an important part of almost every customer relationship. As we engage with customers, they're focused on specialty products and how Cencora can help them.

幾十年來，專業一直是 Cencora 的關鍵差異化因素，而專業藥品現在在我們的業務中無處不在，幾乎是每個客戶關係的重要組成部分。當我們與客戶互動時，他們關注的是特色產品以及 Cencora 如何幫助他們。

This is true for physicians, health systems, specialty pharmacies and now also for community pharmacy as patients are accessing GLP-1s locally. While GLP-1s represent economic challenges in the pharmaceutical supply chain, they are an important innovation and pharmacists handling these products are helping to drive positive outcomes for patients, particularly those with comorbidities, which is an important proof point for the industry. Pharmaceutical innovation continues to advance patient care and Cencora has the capabilities and resources to enable us to partner with our leading customers, upstream and downstream.

對於醫生、衛生系統、專業藥局都是如此，現在對於社區藥局也是如此，因為患者在當地取得 GLP-1。雖然GLP-1 代表了藥品供應鏈中的經濟挑戰，但它們是一項重要的創新，處理這些產品的藥劑師正在幫助為患者，特別是患有合併症的患者帶來積極的結果，這是該行業的重要證明點。製藥創新不斷推動患者護理，Cencora 擁有能力和資源，使我們能夠與上游和下游的領先客戶合作。

In fiscal 2023, we talked about how our investment in OneOncology was a natural evolution of our leadership in specialty. As the addition of a management services organization or MSO in the oncology space expanded the solutions we provide an important community provider customer base.

在 2023 財年，我們談到了我們對 OneOncology 的投資是我們在專業領域領導地位的自然演變。隨著腫瘤學領域管理服務組織或 MSO 的增加，解決方案得到了擴展，我們為社區提供者提供了重要的客戶群。

This morning, I'm excited to talk about our agreement to acquire Retina Consultants of America, or RCA, a clear leader in the retina MSO space, which broadens our community provider relationships in a high-growth segment. In addition to being a proven established MSO, RCA has differentiated clinical research capabilities that we believe will build on Cencora's value proposition to pharma, supporting innovative new therapies and furthering our ability to contribute to better outcomes for patients.

今天早上，我很高興談論我們收購 Retina Consultants of America（或 RCA）的協議，該公司是視網膜 MSO 領域的明顯領導者，這擴大了我們在高成長領域的社區提供者關係。除了成為一家久經考驗的MSO 之外，RCA 還擁有差異化的臨床研究能力，我們相信這些能力將建立在Cencora 對製藥公司的價值主張之上，支持創新的新療法，並進一步增強我們為患者提供更好結果的能力。

This acquisition fits squarely in Cencora's pharmaceutical-centric strategy and furthers our ability to execute on our strategic imperatives of leading with market leaders, investing in innovation, contributing to prescription outcomes and expanding on our leadership in specialty.

此次收購完全符合 Cencora 以製藥為中心的策略，並增強了我們執行與市場領導者一起領導、投資創新、為處方結果做出貢獻以及擴大我們在專業領域的領導地位的戰略要求的能力。

We've developed deep relationships with RCA's leadership over the years as we've served their practices. Their clinical excellence and focus on pharmaceutical innovation align closely with Cencora's purpose and strategy. Community providers face an increasingly complex operating environment. By aligning with Cencora, partner that supports the voice and leadership of physicians, they are better able to navigate changes, advance their growth and focus on providing patient care.

多年來，我們為 RCA 的實踐提供服務，與他們的領導層建立了深厚的關係。他們的臨床卓越性和對藥物創新的關注與 Cencora 的宗旨和策略緊密結合。社區提供者面臨日益複雜的營運環境。透過與支持醫生的聲音和領導力的合作夥伴 Cencora 合作，他們能夠更好地駕馭變化、促進他們的成長並專注於提供患者護理。

Cencora's global distribution infrastructure is the backbone of our business. We continue to invest in our distribution centers to support the logistics needs presented by pharmaceutical innovation and focus on utilizing technology to create actual data and insights for our partners.

Cencora 的全球分銷基礎設施是我們業務的支柱。我們繼續投資我們的配送中心，以支持製藥創新帶來的物流需求，並專注於利用技術為我們的合作夥伴創建實際數據和見解。

In the US, we've made investments in our distribution infrastructure to support the increasing amount of temperature-controlled volume we handle and to increase the level of granularity on traceability and product-specific movement. Through our data-driven approach, we're focused on creating actionable insights that allow manufacturers to strengthen their processes, increase efficiencies and comply with the latest industry regulatory standards.

在美國，我們對分銷基礎設施進行了投資，以支援我們處理的不斷增加的溫控量，並提高可追溯性和特定產品移動的粒度水平。透過我們的數據驅動方法，我們專注於創建可行的見解，使製造商能夠加強其流程、提高效率並遵守最新的行業監管標準。

This is an example of Cencora's forward-thinking mindset and ability to not only adapt to industry changes, but capitalize on and expand the role we play. Health care is dynamic which creates opportunities for us to leverage our growing strengths and expertise to advance clinical and business objectives of our customers. By aligning ourselves with the right strategic partners and prioritizing key markets, we're able to grow with our comers and develop innovative solutions. Listening and responding to customers is table stakes. We will actively learn understanding deeply the strategies of our partners allowing us to anticipate their needs, both opportunities and challenges they are facing now and into the future.

這是 Cencora 的前瞻性思維和能力的一個例子，它不僅能夠適應行業變化，而且能夠利用和擴大我們所發揮的作用。醫療保健是動態的，這為我們創造了機會，利用我們不斷增長的優勢和專業知識來推進客戶的臨床和業務目標。透過與正確的策略合作夥伴結盟並優先考慮關鍵市場，我們能夠與我們的競爭對手一起成長並開發創新的解決方案。傾聽和回應客戶是賭注。我們將積極學習，深入了解合作夥伴的策略，使我們能夠預測他們的需求，以及他們現在和未來面臨的機會和挑戰。

As an example, for our health systems customers, we have enhanced the services we provide to help accelerate pharmacy solutions by developing a unified portfolio to optimize operations, improve financial performance and expand care. One example of our enhancements is the increased support we now offer during the procurement process. These enhanced services leverage advanced analytics to provide customer transparency, opportunities to drive product and cost efficiency and evaluate and mitigate risk, all to enhance the customer experience.

例如，對於我們的醫療系統客戶，我們增強了所提供的服務，透過開發統一的產品組合來優化營運、改善財務績效和擴大護理範圍，以幫助加速製藥解決方案的發展。我們改進的一個例子是我們現在在採購過程中提供的更多支援。這些增強的服務利用先進的分析來提供客戶透明度、提高產品和成本效率以及評估和降低風險的機會，所有這些都是為了增強客戶體驗。

Internationally, we've been strategically investing in the distribution center network of our European wholesale and 3PL businesses to increase the level of automation and enhance our capabilities to improve business continuity.

在國際上，我們一直在策略性投資歐洲批發和 3PL 業務的配送中心網絡，以提高自動化水準並增強我們改善業務連續性的能力。

Outside of distribution, our global specialty logistics business continues to navigate a challenging market, operating efficiently while we continue to invest in solutions to support clinical innovation across geographies. And unfortunately, as you saw in the earnings release this morning, we took a goodwill impairment on our PharmaLex business. The business growth is not keeping up with our original expectations as the outsourced pharma services market faces broader demand challenges.

除了分銷之外，我們的全球專業物流業務繼續在充滿挑戰的市場中航行，高效運營，同時我們繼續投資解決方案以支援跨地區的臨床創新。不幸的是，正如您在今天早上的財報中看到的那樣，我們對 PharmaLex 業務進行了商譽減損。由於外包醫藥服務市場面臨更廣泛的需求挑戰，業務成長未能跟上我們最初的預期。

PharmaLex remains a key long-term strategic asset and our ability to differentiate our commercialization solutions with our pharma and biotech partners, and we are confident in our ability to grow the business. As the market rebounds, we are positioned as a partner of choice to enhance new product development and commercialization through a compelling suite of services from clinical trial support to regulatory, scientific affairs and pharmacovigilance, specialty logistics, market access as well as our 3PL and distribution reach across continents. I'm confident in Cencora's ability to drive success across our enterprise because of the strength of our talent.

PharmaLex 仍然是一項關鍵的長期策略資產，也是我們與製藥和生物技術合作夥伴實現商業化解決方案差異化的能力，我們對發展業務的能力充滿信心。隨著市場反彈，我們被定位為首選合作夥伴，透過從臨床試驗支援到監管、科學事務和藥物警戒、專業物流、市場准入以及我們的3PL 和分銷等一系列引人注目的服務，加強新產品開發和商業化到達各大洲。由於我們的人才實力，我對 Cencora 推動整個企業成功的能力充滿信心。

I want to take a moment to thank the Global Cencora team members who drive our business objectives, capture opportunities with our partners and customers through their close collaboration and perform their work with a purpose-driven mindset. I'm honored to be working alongside and learning from each of our team members whose expertise and excellence in their work drive us forward. Our most important investment is in our people and I've seen how diverse teams with different perspectives create the best results. So as we think about fiscal 2025 and the future of Cencora, we will prioritize building on our strong team to continue our track record of impressive performance.

我想花點時間感謝 Global Cencora 團隊成員，他們推動了我們的業務目標，透過密切合作與我們的合作夥伴和客戶一起抓住機會，並以目標驅動的心態開展工作。我很榮幸能夠與我們每一位團隊成員一起工作並向他們學習，他們的專業知識和卓越的工作推動我們前進。我們最重要的投資是對我們的員工的投資，我已經看到具有不同觀點的多元化團隊如何創造最佳結果。因此，當我們考慮 2025 財年和 Cencora 的未來時，我們將優先考慮建立強大的團隊，以繼續保持令人印象深刻的業績記錄。

Our enterprise leadership team's responsibility is to equip our team members with resources to perform best-in-class work, and I'm committed to supporting them. Having been in this role for a little over a month now, I'm continuously asked what's next for Cencora? Cencora is an incredible, purpose-driven company guided by a differentiated strategy culture and a portfolio of solutions across geographies, which has allowed us to build strategic customer partnerships and consistently deliver strong results.

我們企業領導團隊的責任是為我們的團隊成員提供資源，以完成一流的工作，我致力於支持他們。擔任這個職位已經一個多月了，我不斷被問到 Cencora 的下一步是什麼？Cencora 是一家令人難以置信的目標驅動型公司，以差異化策略文化和跨地區解決方案組合為指導，這使我們能夠建立策略客戶合作夥伴關係並持續交付強勁成果。

Thinking about fiscal 2025 and beyond, we will continue to lead with a customer-centric approach, take on an enterprise powered mindset and focus on innovation, which will ensure our differentiated value proposition remains intact and accelerates our position as a leader in health care.

考慮到2025 財年及以後，我們將繼續以客戶為中心，採取企業驅動的思維方式並專注於創新，這將確保我們的差異化價值主張保持完整，並加速我們作為醫療保健領域領導者的地位。

On the talent side, we have strong leadership, and we've taken steps to evolve the leadership team to help deliver on this focus. Adding new external hires including a new Chief Data and Information Officer as well as a new Head of Strategy and Corporate Development. We've also elevated existing commercial leaders to ensure that we continue to bring the voice of the customer to the table.

在人才方面，我們擁有強大的領導力，我們已採取措施發展領導團隊，以幫助實現這一重點。增加新的外部員工，包括新的首席數據和資訊長以及新的策略和企業發展主管。我們也提升了現有商業領導者的地位，以確保我們繼續將客戶的聲音帶到桌面上。

In closing, Cencora has an incredible foundation built on the strength of our strategy. We are well positioned in key services and solutions with our core and pharmaceutical distribution and complementary services for our upstream and downstream customers. Our global operations allow us to integrate our solutions across the markets we serve to create differentiated capabilities. I'm inspired by our team members priding their work and deep dedication to our purpose. We are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures.

最後，Cencora 擁有建立在我們戰略優勢之上的令人難以置信的基礎。我們在關鍵服務和解決方案方面處於有利地位，我們的核心和藥品分銷以及為上下游客戶提供的補充服務。我們的全球營運使我們能夠在我們所服務的市場中整合我們的解決方案，以創造差異化的能力。我們的團隊成員為他們的工作和對我們目標的奉獻精神感到自豪，這讓我深受鼓舞。我們團結一致，共同承擔創造更健康未來的責任。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Laz for an in-depth review of fourth quarter and full year fiscal '24 results as well as fiscal 2025 guidance. Laz?

現在，我將把電話轉給 Laz，要求其深入審查 24 財年第四季和全年業績以及 2025 財年指引。拉茲？

Thanks, Bob. Good morning, and good afternoon, everyone. It's an honor and a privilege to fill in today as Jim continues to recover. We all know Jim, so we all know he is listening to the call right now and I will try my best to do him proud. Before I turn to a review of our fourth quarter and full fiscal year results, as a reminder, my remarks will focus on our adjusted non-GAAP financial results unless otherwise stated. For a detailed discussion of our GAAP results, please refer to our earnings press release and presentation.

謝謝，鮑伯。大家早安，下午好。隨著吉姆繼續康復，今天能夠填補這一空缺是我的榮幸。我們都認識吉姆，所以我們都知道他現在正在聽電話，我會盡力讓他感到驕傲。在我回顧我們第四季度和整個財年的業績之前，提醒一下，除非另有說明，我的演講將重點關注我們調整後的非公認會計準則財務業績。有關我們的 GAAP 結果的詳細討論，請參閱我們的收益新聞稿和簡報。

Throughout fiscal 2024, Cencora has demonstrated our ability to capitalize on the opportunities presented to us by our pharmaceutical-centric strategy, long-lasting customer relationships and robust solutions and the fourth quarter was a continuation of our momentum as we finished the year strong, driven by the strength of our business and execution of our team members, we delivered adjusted diluted EPS of $3.34 in the fourth quarter, representing a 17% increase compared to the prior year quarter and full fiscal year 2024 adjusted diluted EPS of $13.76, a 15% increase compared to the prior fiscal year.

在整個2024 財年，Cencora 證明了我們有能力利用以製藥為中心的策略、持久的客戶關係和強大的解決方案所帶來的機遇，第四季度是我們勢頭的延續，我們以強勁、驅動的方式結束了這一年。為13.76 美元，比去年同期成長15%與上一財年相比有所增加。

Turning now to an in-depth review of our fourth quarter results compared to the prior year quarter. Consolidated revenue was $79.1 billion, up 15%, driven by growth in both reportable segments as the US Healthcare Solutions segment continued to see strong script utilization and the International Healthcare Solutions segment benefited from growth at our European and Canadian businesses.

現在深入回顧我們第四季的業績與去年同期相比。綜合收入為791 億美元，成長15%，這主要得益於兩個可報告部門的成長，因為美國醫療保健解決方案部門繼續看到強勁的腳本利用率，而國際醫療保健解決方案部門則受益於我們歐洲和加拿大業務的成長。

Now moving to gross profit. Consolidated gross profit was $2.5 billion, up 7% due to gross profit growth in the US Healthcare Solutions segment. Consolidated gross profit margin was 3.1%, a decrease of 24 basis points compared to the prior year quarter due to higher growth in our US Healthcare Solutions segment which has lower gross profit margin than our International Healthcare Solutions segment.

現在轉向毛利。由於美國醫療保健解決方案部門的毛利成長，綜合毛利為 25 億美元，成長 7%。綜合毛利率為 3.1%，比去年同期下降 24 個基點，這是由於我們的美國醫療保健解決方案部門的成長較高，而該部門的毛利率低於我們的國際醫療保健解決方案部門。

Additionally, our US Healthcare Solutions gross profit margin experienced continued pressure from increased sales of low-margin GLP-1 products and a lack of sales in the current year quarter of exclusive COVID-19 therapies, which had higher gross profit margins. Consolidated operating expenses were $1.6 billion, up 7% as a result of higher distribution, selling and administrative expenses in the quarter to support our revenue growth.

此外，我們的美國醫療保健解決方案毛利率持續受到低利潤 GLP-1 產品銷售增加以及本季毛利率較高的獨家 COVID-19 療法銷售不足的壓力。由於本季分銷、銷售和管理費用增加以支持我們的收入成長，綜合營運費用為 16 億美元，成長 7%。

Turning now to operating income. Consolidated operating income was $851 million, up 6% compared to the prior year quarter. The increase in operating income was driven by strong growth in the US Healthcare Solutions segment, partially offset by a decline in the International Healthcare Solutions segment, which I will discuss in more detail when reviewing the segment level results.

現在轉向營業收入。綜合營業收入為 8.51 億美元，比去年同期成長 6%。營業收入的成長是由美國醫療保健解決方案部門的強勁成長推動的，部分被國際醫療保健解決方案部門的下降所抵消，我將在審查部門層面的業績時更詳細地討論這一點。

Moving now to our net interest expense for the fourth quarter. Net interest expense was $21 million, a decrease of 66% driven by strong free cash flow, enabling an increase in interest income as a result of higher investment rates and investment cash balances in the quarter and a decrease in interest expense due to lower foreign subsidiary borrowings and the September 2023 divestiture of our less than wholly owned subsidiary in Egypt.

現在轉向第四季的淨利息支出。淨利息支出為 2,100 萬美元，在強勁的自由現金流的推動下下降了 66%，由於本季度投資利率和投資現金餘額較高，利息收入有所增加，而外國子公司減少導致利息支出減少借款以及2023 年9 月剝離我們在埃及的非全資子公司。

Our effective tax rate in the fourth quarter was 20.3% compared to 21.6% in the prior year quarter, bringing our full year 2024 effective tax rate down to 20.8%. Finally, our diluted share count was 198.1 million shares, a 3% decrease compared to the prior year fourth quarter, driven by approximately $500 million of opportunistic share repurchases in the quarter, including a $250 million share repurchase from Walgreens Boots Alliance in August as they sold all of their remaining unencumbered shares. This completes the review of our consolidated results.

我們第四季的有效稅率為 20.3%，而去年同期為 21.6%，使我們 2024 年全年的有效稅率降至 20.8%。最後，我們的稀釋後股票數量為1.981 億股，與去年第四季相比減少了3%，主要是由於本季約5 億美元的機會性股票回購，其中包括8 月從Walgreens Boots Alliance回購的2.5 億美元股票。這樣就完成了對我們綜合結果的檢視。

Now I will review our segment results for the fourth quarter, beginning with the US Healthcare Solutions segment. The US Healthcare Solutions segment revenue was $71.7 billion, up 16% versus the prior year, reflecting strong prescription utilization trends including sales of GLP-1 products, increased sales of specialty products to physician practices and health systems and growth in sales to our largest customers, all of which was partially offset by the January 1 manufacturer price reductions in certain product classes.

現在，我將回顧第四季度的部門業績，首先是美國醫療保健解決方案部門。美國醫療保健解決方案部門收入為717 億美元，比上一年增長16%，反映了強勁的處方使用趨勢，包括GLP-1 產品的銷售、向醫生診所和衛生系統的特種產品銷售增加以及對我們最大客戶的銷售成長，所有這些都被 1 月 1 日製造商對某些產品類別的降價所部分抵消。

In the quarter, sales of GLP-1 products were up $3.1 billion, representing a 55% increase compared to the prior year quarter and a sequential increase of 14% from the June quarter. Excluding sales of GLP-1 products fourth quarter revenue growth would have been approximately 10%.

本季度，GLP-1 產品銷售額成長 31 億美元，較去年同期成長 55%，較 6 月季度季增 14%。不包括 GLP-1 產品的銷售，第四季營收成長約 10%。

US Healthcare Solutions segment operating income increased by 10% to $697 million, driven by increased volumes across our distribution businesses stemming from strong utilization trends. In the quarter, we continued to see strong demand for specialty products from physician practices and health systems outpacing overall prescription market growth.

美國醫療保健解決方案部門的營業收入成長了 10%，達到 6.97 億美元，這是由於強勁的利用率趨勢導致我們的分銷業務銷售增加。本季度，我們繼續看到醫生實踐和衛生系統對特種產品的強勁需求超過了整體處方藥市場的成長。

Moving to International Healthcare Solutions segment. In the quarter, International Healthcare Solutions revenue was $7.4 billion, an increase of almost 6% on an as-reported basis, an increase of 8% on a constant currency basis.

轉向國際醫療保健解決方案部門。本季度，國際醫療保健解決方案營收為 74 億美元，按報告計算成長近 6%，以固定匯率計算成長 8%。

International Healthcare Solutions segment operating income was $154 million, a 9% decrease on an as-reported basis and an 8% decline on a constant currency basis due to higher information technology expenses at our European distribution business and lower operating income in our Canadian business, all of which was partially offset by positive operating income results at our global specialty logistics business.

國際醫療保健解決方案部門的營業收入為 1.54 億美元，比報告的基礎下降 9%，按固定匯率計算下降 8%，這是由於我們歐洲分銷業務的信息技術費用增加和加拿大業務的營業收入下降，所有這些都被我們全球專業物流業務的積極營業收入結果所部分抵消。

As Bob mentioned and as noted in our press release, our GAAP operating income results for the fourth quarter include a $418 million goodwill impairment relating to PharmaLex, as a result of the business, not keeping up with our original expectations as the industry experiences broader pressures due to lower demand from pharma and biotech for outsourced services.

正如Bob 所提到的以及我們在新聞稿中指出的，我們第四季度的GAAP 營業收入結果包括與PharmaLex 相關的4.18 億美元商譽減值，因為該業務未能達到我們最初的預期，因為該行業面臨更廣泛的壓力由於製藥​​和生物技術對外包服務的需求下降。

PharmaLex remains a strategic asset for Cencora and we expect the business to continue to be a key component of our commercialization services value proposition for our upstream partners. Please note that this onetime item only impacts GAAP results and is excluded from our non-GAAP adjusted results for the quarter. That concludes my discussion of our fiscal fourth quarter financials.

PharmaLex 仍然是 Cencora 的策略性資產，我們預計該業務將繼續成為我們為上游合作夥伴提供商業化服務價值主張的關鍵組成部分。請注意，此一次性項目僅影響 GAAP 業績，不包括在我們本季的非 GAAP 調整後業績中。我對第四財季財務狀況的討論到此結束。

Now I will turn to our full year fiscal 2024 results compared to the prior year, beginning with revenue. Our consolidated revenue was $294 billion, up 12%, driven by growth of 13% in the US Healthcare Solutions segment and 4% growth in the International Healthcare Solutions segment. Consolidated operating income was $3.6 billion, an increase of 11% due to growth in both the US Healthcare Solutions segment and the International Healthcare Solutions segment.

現在我將討論 2024 財年全年業績與前一年的比較，從收入開始。我們的綜合收入為 2,940 億美元，成長 12%，這主要得益於美國醫療保健解決方案部門成長 13% 和國際醫療保健解決方案部門成長 4%。由於美國醫療保健解決方案部門和國際醫療保健解決方案部門的成長，綜合營業收入為 36 億美元，成長 11%。

From a segment perspective, US Healthcare Solutions had operating income growth of 13% driven by increases in sales of specialty products to physician practices and health systems, increased sales to our largest customers and commercial COVID-19 vaccines.

從細分市場角度來看，美國醫療保健解決方案的營業收入增長了13%，這主要得益於向醫生診所和衛生系統銷售的特種產品的銷售增加、對我們最大客戶的銷售增加以及商業COVID -19 疫苗的銷售增加。

As a reminder, commercial COVID-19 vaccines drove the higher year-over-year operating income growth in the first half of fiscal 2024. International Healthcare Solutions had operating income growth of 3% on an as-reported basis, driven by increases in our Canadian business, our global specialty logistics business and our less than wholly owned Brazil full-line distribution business, partially offset by foreign currency pressure and higher information technology operating expenses in our European distribution business. On a constant currency basis, the segment delivered 9% operating income growth.

需要提醒的是，商業 COVID-19 疫苗推動了 2024 財年上半年營業收入的年成長。根據報告，國際醫療保健解決方案的營業收入增長了 3%，這主要是由我們的加拿大業務、全球專業物流業務和非全資擁有的巴西全線分銷業務的增長推動的，但部分被外匯壓力和我們的歐洲分銷業務的資訊科技營運費用較高。以固定匯率計算，該部門的營業收入成長了 9%。

Rounding out the discussion of our full year fiscal 2024 results, we generated $3.1 billion of adjusted free cash flow and ended the year with cash balance of $3.1 billion as we experienced better-than-expected quarter end receipts.

在討論 2024 財年全年業績時，我們產生了 31 億美元的調整後自由現金流，由於季度末收入好於預期，年底現金餘額為 31 億美元。

In fiscal 2024, we returned $1.9 billion to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases, including $1.5 billion in opportunistic share repurchases. This morning, we announced our 20th consecutive annual dividend increase as our Board of Directors approved an 8% increase to our quarterly dividend. This is 3% higher than our previous annual dividend increases of 5% and aligns with our long-term guidance of 8% to 12% adjusted diluted EPS growth. This completes the review of our full fiscal year results.

2024 財年，我們透過股利和股票回購相結合的方式向股東返還 19 億美元，其中包括 15 億美元的機會性股票回購。今天早上，我們宣布連續 20 次增加年度股息，董事會批准將季度股息增加 8%。這比我們之前 5% 的年度股息增長高出 3%，並且符合我們調整後稀釋後每股收益增長 8% 至 12% 的長期指導。我們完整財年業績的審核就此完成。

Turning now to discuss our fiscal 2025 guidance expectations. As a reminder, we do not provide forward-looking guidance on a GAAP basis, so the following metrics are provided on an adjusted non-GAAP basis. I will also provide certain guidance metrics on a constant currency basis. We have also provided a detailed overview of guidance metrics on slides 11 and 12 of our earnings presentation. First, I will start with adjusted diluted EPS and then provide greater detail on the components of our earnings growth and financial expectations for the fiscal year.

現在討論我們的 2025 財年指導預期。提醒一下，我們不提供基於 GAAP 的前瞻性指導，因此以下指標是在調整後的非 GAAP 基礎上提供的。我還將在固定貨幣基礎上提供某些指導指標。我們也在收益簡報的幻燈片 11 和 12 上提供了指導指標的詳細概述。首先，我將從調整後的稀釋每股盈餘開始，然後提供有關本財年獲利成長和財務預期的更詳細資訊。

In fiscal 2025, we expect adjusted diluted EPS to be in the range of $14.80 to $15.10, representing growth of 8% to 10% at or above our preliminary implied guidance provided in early September due to opportunistic share repurchases in September and October and continued momentum in the business. As stated in our press release this morning, our fiscal 2025 guidance does not include the impact of the RCA acquisition, which will be incorporated into our expectations following the transaction close.

到2025 財年，我們預計調整後稀釋後每股收益將在14.80 美元至15.10 美元之間，由於9 月和10 月的機會性股票回購以及持續的勢頭，增長8% 至10%，達到或高於我們9 月初提供的初步隱含指引在業務中。正如我們今天早上的新聞稿中所述，我們的 2025 財年指引不包括 RCA 收購的影響，該影響將在交易結束後納入我們的預期。

As a reminder, in fiscal 2025, we continue to expect year-over-year headwinds from COVID products, including a headwind from commercial COVID vaccines in the first half of fiscal 2025, a $0.06 headwind from exclusive COVID therapies in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 and the potential June 2025 loss of an oncology customer due to its previously announced pending acquisition. All of these factors remain largely unchanged from our preliminary guidance expectations and are offset by our momentum and business initiatives.

提醒一下，在 2025 財年，我們繼續預計新冠病毒產品將面臨同比逆風，包括 2025 財年上半年商業新冠疫苗帶來的逆風，本財年第一季獨家新冠肺炎療法帶來的 0.06 美元逆風2025年，以及由於先前宣布的待收購而可能在2025 年6 月失去腫瘤客戶。所有這些因素與我們的初步指導預期基本保持不變，並被我們的勢頭和業務舉措所抵消。

Moving to revenue. We expect consolidated and segment growth rates to be in the range of 7% to 9%, reflecting continued growth across both segments. Turning to operating income. We expect consolidated and segment operating income growth rates to be in the range of 5% to 6.5%. At the segment level, we expect US Healthcare Solutions segment operating income to benefit from continued pharmaceutical utilization trends, growth in key markets and internal efficiencies, more than offsetting COVID-related headwinds and a potential loss of an oncology customer in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

轉向收入。我們預期合併和分部成長率將在 7% 至 9% 之間，反映出兩個分部的持續成長。轉向營業收入。我們預計合併及分部營業收入成長率將介於 5% 至 6.5% 之間。在細分市場層面，我們預期美國醫療保健解決方案細分市場的營業收入將受益於持續的藥品利用趨勢、主要市場的成長和內部效率，足以抵消與新冠病毒相關的不利因素以及本財年第第四季度腫瘤學客戶的潛在損失。

For the International Solutions segment, operating income is expected to benefit due to growth from its key businesses and a lower information technology expense growth rate. Now moving to interest expense. We expect our interest expense to be between $150 million and $170 million based on our stand-alone operating expectations, which do not include the potential impact from financing the RCA acquisition. Turning to income taxes. We expect our effective tax rate to be approximately 21% for fiscal 2025.

對於國際解決方案部門，由於其關鍵業務的成長和較低的資訊科技費用成長率，營業收入預計將受益。現在轉向利息支出。根據我們的獨立營運預期，我們預計利息支出將在 1.5 億至 1.7 億美元之間，其中不包括 RCA 收購融資的潛在影響。轉向所得稅。我們預計 2025 財年的有效稅率約為 21%。

Moving now to share count. We expect that our full year average share count will be approximately 196 million shares in fiscal 2025, reflecting the impact of our significant share repurchase activity over the last 12 months, including over $600 million in repurchases since mid-September.

現在開始進行分享計數。我們預計 2025 財年全年平均股票數量約為 1.96 億股，反映了我們過去 12 個月重大股票回購活動的影響，其中包括自 9 月中旬以來超過 6 億美元的回購活動。

Regarding our capital expenditure expectations, in fiscal 2025, we expect capital expenditures to be approximately $600 million, a modest increase in comparison to fiscal 2024 as we continue to invest in our business to support growth and to increase the strength of our infrastructure. As it relates to free cash flow, we expect full year adjusted free cash flow to be in the range of $2 billion to $3 billion due primarily to timing and mix.

關於我們的資本支出預期，我們預計 2025 財年的資本支出約為 6 億美元，與 2024 財年相比略有增加，因為我們繼續投資於我們的業務以支持成長並增強基礎設施的實力。由於與自由現金流相關，我們預計全年調整後的自由現金流將在 20 億至 30 億美元之間，這主要是由於時機和組合的原因。

We continue to generate strong free cash flow to support our growing dividend and continue to execute our capital allocation priorities to contribute the growth of our business. This morning's announcement of RCA is an example of that as it clearly fits our pharmaceutical-centric strategy builds on our MSO solutions and hits on Cencora's strategic imperatives which are key to our past and future success.

我們繼續產生強勁的自由現金流來支持我們不斷增長的股息，並繼續執行我們的資本配置優先事項，以促進我們業務的成長。今天早上宣布的RCA 就是一個例子，因為它顯然符合我們以製藥為中心的戰略，該戰略建立在我們的MSO 解決方案的基礎上，並符合Cencora 的戰略要求，而這些戰略要求是我們過去和未來成功的關鍵。

As was stated in this morning's release, the fiscal 2025 guidance we are presenting this morning does not currently include the impact of the RCA acquisition, which will be incorporated into expectations following the transaction close. We plan to fund the transaction through a combination of debt and cash on hand. Given the recent use of cash to opportunistically repurchase shares and the use of cash in our second quarter due to the seasonality of our business, we are currently expecting to fund approximately 20% of the acquisition price for cash on hand.

正如今天早上的新聞稿中所述，我們今天上午提出的 2025 財年指引目前不包括 RCA 收購的影響，該影響將納入交易結束後的預期中。我們計劃透過債務和手頭現金的組合為交易提供資金。鑑於近期使用現金擇機回購股票，以及由於業務季節性而在第二季度使用現金，我們目前預計將用現金支付收購價格的約 20%。

Upon closing, the acquisition is expected to be approximately $0.35 accretive, net of estimated financing costs for its first 12 months. Cencora is committed to maintaining our strong investment-grade credit rating and will prioritize deleveraging in the years following the transaction close.

交易完成後，扣除前 12 個月的預計融資成本後，預計此次收購將帶來約 0.35 美元的增值。Cencora 致力於維持我們強大的投資等級信用評級，並將在交易完成後的幾年內優先考慮去槓桿化。

In closing, the fourth quarter captured a strong year at Cencora. I'm proud of our purpose-driven team members, the strength and diversity of our talent and our continued execution to deliver on our strategic imperatives to advance our position at the center of health care we are well positioned for continued growth in fiscal 2025 and investing to ensure we are preparing for continued success in the future.

最後，Cencora 在第四季度取得了強勁的一年。我為我們以目標為導向的團隊成員、我們人才的力量和多樣性以及我們持續執行策略感到自豪，以提升我們在醫療保健中心的地位，我們已做好準備，在 2025 財年實現持續增長，投資以確保我們為未來的持續成功做好準備。

With that, I will turn the call over to the operator to open the line for questions. Operator?

這樣，我會將電話轉給接線員以開啟提問線路。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Lisa Gill, JPMorgan.

麗莎·吉爾，摩根大通。

Thanks very much. Good morning, Bob. Congratulations. I talked to -- I listened to you talk a little bit about your strategy. You talked about the incredible foundation built on the strategy. the strength of the strategy of the company. Obviously, we're waking up today. We have a new president going into 2025, maybe just spend a couple of minutes talking about how you think about maybe the first year as CEO of the company, anything changing from your perspective now that we do have a new president and it looks like it will be a Congress that will most likely be Republican.

非常感謝。早安，鮑伯。恭喜。我和你談過——我聽你談了一些你的策略。您談到了建立在該戰略之上的令人難以置信的基礎。公司策略的實力。顯然，我們今天要醒來。我們將在2025 年迎來一位新總裁，也許只需花幾分鐘談談您對擔任公司執行長的第一年的看法，既然我們確實有了一位新總裁，那麼從您的角度來看，一切都會發生變化，看起來就像這樣國會很可能是共和黨人。

So any changes there would be kind of my question is really just trying to understand how you're thinking about that? And then just secondly, I really just want to understand if we're seeing any changes from the volume changes in IRA. So you talked about strong results in the quarter around volumes. I'm just curious if you guys are seeing anything from that perspective.

因此，任何變化都會是我的問題，只是想了解您是如何看待這個問題的？其次，我真的只是想了解我們是否看到 IRA 數量變化帶來的任何變化。所以您談到了本季圍繞銷售的強勁業績。我只是好奇你們是否從這個角度看待任何事情。

Hi, Lisa. Thank you very much for the question and the kind words. I'll start with just the first 30 days or so in this new role have been absolutely amazing. Yes, I want to start with just a sincere thank you to the Cencora, our Board of Directors for having the trust in me to take on this role.

嗨，麗莎。非常感謝您的提問和客氣話。首先，我在擔任這個新角色的頭 30 天左右的時間裡經歷了絕對令人驚奇的經歷。是的，首先我想衷心感謝我們的董事會 Cencora 對我擔任這一職位的信任。

And as you mentioned and as I mentioned in our prepared remarks is we are an incredibly strong enterprise and company. And what we're going to do is continue to execute. And you see in our results through 2024, the execution of both our operational strength as well as our strategic execution and that leads to the announcement of RCA today. So as I've talked about, and I want to be clear here today is our strategy does not need to change, and we will continue to execute upon that.

正如您和我在我們準備好的演講中提到的那樣，我們是一家非常強大的企業和公司。而我們要做的就是繼續執行。您可以從我們到 2024 年的業績中看到，我們的營運實力和策略執行力都得到了執行，這導致了今天 RCA 的宣布。正如我所談到的，我今天想在這裡澄清的是，我們的策略不需要改變，我們將繼續執行這項策略。

We're well positioned, and we think our focus areas are the right ones. However, that doesn't mean status quo or complacency. And there's a lot of work to do. It's a dynamic market. And so we are doing things in terms of amplifying strengths that we've already had.

我們處於有利位置，我們認為我們的重點領域是正確的。然而，這並不意味著維持現狀或自滿。還有很多工作要做。這是一個充滿活力的市場。因此，我們正在做一些事情來增強我們已經擁有的優勢。

And I mentioned we're working on our talent all the time in the enterprise leadership team. We've elevated our commercial leaders to make sure that we have the voice of the customer at the table all the time. We've added new leaders in our technical and IT area as well as strategy and M&A. And we'll continue to work on enhancing our talent as we continue to execute. I think as it relates to policy in general, I think we have a long history of working through multiple administrations and congresses and different views on health care and pharma.

我提到我們在企業領導團隊中一直致力於培養我們的人才。我們提升了商業領袖的地位，以確保我們始終能聽到客戶的聲音。我們在技術和 IT 領域以及策略和併購領域增加了新的領導者。我們將在繼續執行的過程中繼續努力增強我們的人才。我認為，由於這與一般政策有關，我認為我們長期以來一直在通過多個政府和國會以及對醫療保健和製藥的不同觀點進行合作。

And as we've always said, and I feel very confident about this now is we'll be at the table. We'll be working with anyone who's in charge of health policy in the United States and on a global basis, and we'll make sure that we're there to be a supportive partner. And that whatever comes our way, will be manageable and will help our customers -- pharma customers and provide our customers navigate through that. Thank you for the question.

正如我們一直所說的，我現在對此非常有信心，我們將坐在談判桌上。我們將與負責美國和全球衛生政策的任何人合作，並確保我們成為支持性的合作夥伴。無論我們遇到什麼，都將是可管理的，並將幫助我們的客戶——製藥客戶，並為我們的客戶提供解決方案。謝謝你的提問。

Michael Cherny, Leerink Partners.

邁克爾·切爾尼，Leerink Partners。

Good morning. Congrats on the quarter. And Bob, echoing Lisa's comments, welcome to your new role. I know you obviously had a long time here, but congrats on the transition. Maybe if I could just dive in, I guess, two part question come together. First of all, I know you highlighted a number of the headwinds you have this year from a year-over-year basis as you think about the COVID comp. Is the loss of the customer contemplated specifically in guidance, whether they leave or not? Just trying to get to the baseline growth, which definitely seems stronger than the 5% to 6.5% on underlying basis.

早安.恭喜本季。鮑伯也同意麗莎的評論，歡迎擔任您的新角色。我知道你顯然在這裡待了很長時間，但祝賀你的轉變。我想，如果我能深入探討，也許可以將兩部分問題放在一起。首先，我知道您在考慮新冠疫情補償時強調了今年與去年同期相比面臨的一些不利因素。指導中是否特別考慮了客戶的流失，無論他們是否離開？只是試圖達到基線增長，這似乎絕對強於基礎基礎上的 5% 至 6.5%。

And along those lines, when thinking about specialty in particular, given your market leadership there, how do you think about the moving pieces across the market with regards to specialty inclusive of expectations for biosimilars, the impact we're seeing from changing benefit design with IRA. Curious how that all factors into your expectations across the US Healthcare segment relative to the specialty contribution? Thank you so much.

沿著這些思路，在特別考慮專業性時，考慮到您在那裡的市場領導地位，您如何看待整個市場在專業性方面的變化，包括對生物相似藥的期望，我們從改變效益設計中看到的影響愛爾蘭共和軍。好奇所有這些因素如何影響您對美國醫療保健領域相對於專業貢獻的期望？太感謝了。

Sure. This is Ben, and I'll take that. So as we look at 2025, we're expecting that the US Healthcare Solutions segment operating income will continue to benefit from the pharmaceutical utilization trends that we've seen growth in key markets, including specialty, as you call out, which helps to give us a really strong base moving into 2025 or 2024.

當然。這是本，我會接受的。因此，展望 2025 年，我們預計美國醫療保健解決方案部門的營業收入將繼續受益於我們在關鍵市場（包括專業市場）的增長的藥品利用趨勢，正如您所說，這有助於提供我們為進入2025 年或2024 年奠定了堅實的基礎。

And more than offsetting COVID-related headwind as Laz talked about, including the potential loss of an oncology customer, which is factored into our 2025 expectations. What I would say you didn't necessarily specifically ask it, but I would say is that we were guiding without that headwind from vaccines. The top end of our US Healthcare Solutions operating income guidance range would be 8%. So as I said, I'll say that again, just to be clear, without the headwind from commercial code vaccines, the top end of our US Healthcare Solutions segment operating income range would be 8% instead of that 6.5%.

正如 Laz 所說，這不僅是抵消與新冠病毒相關的不利因素，還包括潛在的腫瘤客戶流失，這已納入我們 2025 年的預期。我想說的是，你不一定專門問這個問題，但我想說的是，我們的指導沒有受到疫苗帶來的阻力。我們的美國醫療保健解決方案營業收入指導範圍的上限為 8%。正如我所說，我要再說一遍，只是為了明確，如果沒有商業代碼疫苗的阻力，我們美國醫療保健解決方案部門營業收入範圍的上限將是 8%，而不是 6.5%。

Next question, please.

請下一個問題。

Elizabeth Anderson, Evercore ISI.

伊麗莎白·安德森，Evercore ISI。

Hi, guys. Thanks so much of the question. And Bob, congrats again on your first quarter as official -- officially. Maybe talk a little bit more -- RCA and sort of how you think about sort of your MSO capabilities more strongly. It's obviously an area that you've been investing in and maybe gets a little bit less like airtime than some of your other businesses. So maybe talk about that and what is their leverageable from other strategies you currently have in sort of capabilities, that would be a little bit helpful to hear more about that. Thank you.

嗨，大家好。非常感謝你的提問。鮑勃，再次恭喜你正式上任的第一季。也許可以多談談 RCA 以及您如何更強烈地考慮 MSO 功能。顯然，這是您一直在投資的一個領域，而且與其他一些業務相比，它的播出時間可能會更少。因此，也許可以談談這一點，以及它們可以從您目前擁有的其他策略中發揮哪些作用，這對於了解更多相關資訊會有所幫助。謝謝。

Yes. Thanks, Elizabeth for the warm welcome and happy to discuss such an important part of our strategy going forward. So yes, we're very interested in the MSO space. And the reason is at least twofold, but I'll give you two. One is it's clearly in line with our support and interested in being in the forefront of the specialty pharma market. So where those products -- the innovation of those products are coming to market. We expect to be helpful and involved across our entire business. So across the entire portfolio of customers and geographies.

是的。感謝伊麗莎白的熱烈歡迎，並很高興討論我們未來策略的重要組成部分。所以，是的，我們對 MSO 領域非常感興趣。原因至少有兩個，但我會給你兩個。一是它顯然符合我們的支持，並且有興趣處於專業製藥市場的前沿。那麼這些產品——這些產品的創新即將進入市場。我們希望能夠為我們的整個業務提供幫助和參與。因此，跨越整個客戶和地區組合。

When you bring it to the specialty physicians, the MSOs are really in line with what we have done at Cencora over a decade. So if you think about how we operate, we have, in many cases, built capabilities to support community providers. And MSOs are an excellent way to support community positions. We do it in other segments, and I'll use good example. Pharmacy as an example. It's not an MSO, but it certainly is a large suite of services that supports community provider.

當您將其交給專科醫生時，您會發現 MSO 確實與我們在 Cencora 十多年來所做的事情一致。因此，如果您考慮我們的營運方式，您會發現在許多情況下，我們都建立了支援社區提供者的能力。MSO 是支持社區立場的絕佳方式。我們在其他部分也這樣做，我將舉一個很好的例子。以藥房為例。它不是 MSO，但它確實是支援社區提供者的大型服務套件。

So it's right in line with our strategy in terms of specialty focus, but it's also something that's very consistent with what we've done over a long period of time in terms of investing in solutions that support those community providers. And as I said in the prepared remarks, it's not getting easier for community providers and specialty providers at all. So the need for a large at-scale support system through the MSO and through Cencora's ownership of the MSOs, we think is the best chance of making sure that, that very cost-effective site of care is there for patients when they need it.

因此，這符合我們在專業重點方面的策略，也與我們長期以來在投資支持這些社群提供者的解決方案方面所做的事情非常一致。正如我在準備好的演講中所說，對於社群提供者和專業提供者來說，這根本沒有變得更容易。因此，我們認為，透過 MSO 以及 Cencora 對 MSO 的所有權建立一個大規模的支持系統是確保患者在需要時能夠找到極具成本效益的護理場所的最佳機會。

George Hill, Deutsche Bank.

喬治·希爾，德意志銀行。

Yes. Good morning, guys. Yes. Bob, welcome to the call. I'm going to get kind of way out like look a little further out, thinking about the acquisition today and you guys present in oncology. And Bob, as you kind of look forward to like impact of the IRE changes and the impact it could have on Part B drug costs and the profitability of practices that dispense a lot of drugs. I guess, is it too early to think about that because there's still the opportunity for legislative change? Or kind of how are you guys thinking about how you support those practices given the headwinds that could come from IRI. And again, I recognize I'm talking about something that two years away, maybe two years plus, but I kind of would love any preliminary thoughts on that.

是的。早安，夥計們。是的。鮑勃，歡迎您的來電。我將採取某種出路，例如看得更遠一些，思考今天的收購以及你們在腫瘤學領域的表現。鮑勃，您有點期待 IRE 變化的影響，以及它可能對 B 部分藥品成本和分發大量藥品的做法的盈利能力產生的影響。我想，現在考慮這個是否還為時過早，因為仍然有立法變革的機會？或者考慮到 IRI 可能帶來的阻力，你們如何考慮如何支持這些做法。再說一次，我認識到我正在談論兩年後的事情，也許兩年多，但我有點喜歡對此的任何初步想法。

Yes, George, thanks for the welcome, and thank you for the excellent question. So I would say it's not too early to think about that. So we have been thinking about IRA and modeling a wide range of scenarios of impact for IRA and Part B and I'll jump to the end of that as we feel that across all those scenarios, that is something that will be manageable for the providers and therefore, manageable for Cencora.

是的，喬治，感謝您的歡迎，也感謝您提出的精彩問題。所以我想說現在考慮這個還不算太早。因此，我們一直在考慮 IRA 並為 IRA 和 B 部分的各種影響場景進行建模，我將跳到最後，因為我們認為在所有這些場景中，這對於提供者來說都是可以管理的因此，對於Cencora 來說是可以管理的。

Again, as you say, we don't really know what the impact will be in Part B and Part D, we're seeing that the impact is really in reimbursement and not in list price. So it remains to be seen, but we do think about it. We have a team -- teams of people who are always focused on these things. And as we look forward, not only with the RCA acquisition, but also our relationship with OneOncology and other customers that this is something that through innovation in the long run that this will be something that's not necessarily negative for the practices.

同樣，正如您所說，我們並不真正知道 B 部分和 D 部分會產生什麼影響，我們看到影響實際上是在報銷方面，而不是在標價方面。所以這還有待觀察，但我們確實有考慮過。我們有一個團隊——由始終專注於這些事情的人組成的團隊。正如我們所期待的，不僅是對 RCA 的收購，而且我們與 OneOncology 和其他客戶的關係也表明，從長遠來看，透過創新，這不一定會對實踐產生負面影響。

Eric Percher, Nephron Research.

艾瑞克‧佩徹（Eric Percher），腎臟單位研究中心。

Thank you. And again, congrats to Bob. And I want to get a bit more specific on the specialty trend. I think we're hearing from payers that they're seeing a 3Q uptick and some of it is attributed to Part D. We also heard about commercial and seeing in specialty pharmacy. My question is, are you seeing an uptick in Q3 versus first half where you're serving specialty pharmacies, we tend to think of that as lower-margin specialty. And then you called out strength in specialty distribution, a higher-margin piece with providers and health systems. You've called that out in Q1 and Q2. Is there an acceleration you saw in 3Q? Or is that simply a continuation of the trend?

謝謝。再次恭喜鮑勃。我想更具體地了解專業趨勢。我想我們從付款人那裡聽到他們看到第三季度的增長，其中一些歸因於 D 部分。我的問題是，您是否看到第三季與上半年相比，您為專業藥房提供服務的情況有所上升，我們傾向於認為這是利潤率較低的專業藥房。然後，您強調了專業分銷的實力，這是與提供者和衛生系統合作的利潤率更高的部分。您在第一季和第二季中已經指出了這一點。您在第三季看到加速了嗎？或者這只是趨勢的延續？

No. I would say -- and once again, this is Bennett of course, I appreciate you using calendar quarters in your question, but I'll refer to a fiscal quarter answering that -- the fourth quarter, we saw similar trends as we saw throughout fiscal '24 and honestly, for the past several years. So we've had the specialty market, particularly for physicians and health systems has been a key component of -- a key driver of our growth for a while. It's a really important segment. It's a part of the market where we play a really important role and add a lot of value. But no, we are not representing this as a deviation. It's a continuation of the good trends that we've seen for a while.

不。我想說——當然，這是貝內特，我感謝你在問題中使用日曆季度，但我會參考財政季度來回答——第四季度，我們看到了與我們在整個季度中看到的類似趨勢老實說，24 財年過去幾年都是如此。因此，我們擁有專業市場，特別是針對醫生和衛生系統的專業市場，它一直是我們成長一段時間的關鍵組成部分。這是一個非常重要的部分。這是市場的一部分，我們在其中發揮著非常重要的作用並增加了很多價值。但不，我們並不將此視為偏差。這是我們一段時間以來看到的良好趨勢的延續。

Stephanie Davis, Barclays.

史蒂芬妮戴維斯，巴克萊銀行。

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. And Bob, official congratulations on taking the seat. I want to dig in a little bit more on the RSA transaction as it's a sizable move into other ologies outside of kind of your core focus -- so with that in mind, can you walk us through your specialty road map, any other verticals to watch or any opportunity on the checklist such as RCA's clinical trial strength that you're hoping to kind of shore up. Thank you.

嗨，大家好。感謝您提出我的問題。鮑勃，正式祝賀您就任。我想深入了解RSA 交易，因為它是向您的核心關注點之外的其他邏輯的重大轉變——因此考慮到這一點，您能否向我們介紹一下您的專業路線圖，以及任何其他垂直領域觀看或清單上的任何機會，例如您希望加強的 RCA 臨床試驗實力。謝謝。

Hi, Stephanie. Thank you for the question and for the congratulations. Yes. So when we look at specialty expansion beyond oncology, we're looking for a couple of things, we're looking for continued growth and innovation in that market and also the Part B components that are there that we can support. So the obvious one for Cencora is oncology, and that's where we've been for a very long time. And I'll also note, we've been a leader in retina for a very long time, but I'll come back to that. But then you saw that we added urology as part of OneOncology.

嗨，史蒂芬妮。謝謝你的提問和祝賀。是的。因此，當我們考慮腫瘤學以外的專業擴張時，我們正在尋找一些東西，我們正在尋找該市場的持續成長和創新，以及我們可以支持的 B 部分組件。因此，對於 Cencora 來說，最明顯的領域是腫瘤學，這也是我們長期以來一直致力於的領域。我還要指出的是，我們長期以來一直是視網膜領域的領導者，但我會回到這一點。但後來您看到我們將泌尿科添加為 OneOncology 的一部分。

So we do have a view and a strategic approach to where we would look at other specialties that would fit. And certainly, retina is one. And again, we have a long history, a leading role in the retina specialty distribution space. We have a real belief in the continued growth and innovation in that market. RCA is best-in-class. They are world-class clinicians, world-class researchers, and we feel really good about the decision to expand our investment in retina.

因此，我們確實有一個觀點和策略方法來尋找其他適合的專業。當然，視網膜就是其中之一。再說一遍，我們擁有悠久的歷史，在視網膜專科分銷領域處於領先地位。我們堅信該市場的持續成長和創新。RCA 是同類中最好的。他們是世界一流的臨床醫生、世界級的研究人員，我們對擴大視網膜投資的決定感到非常高興。

Kevin Caliendo, UBS.

凱文‧卡里恩多，瑞銀集團。

Thanks for taking my question, Bob. Again, congrats. I want to take this a little bit further on the RCA stuff, because there's been a lot of oncology deals done recently. It feels like there isn't maybe as much opportunity there. You are already a leader in retina, as you said. Is this a stepping stone is ophthalmology going to be the next sort of roll up for you?

感謝您提出我的問題，鮑伯。再次恭喜。我想進一步討論 RCA 的問題，因為最近完成了很多腫瘤學交易。感覺那裡可能沒有那麼多機會。正如你所說，你已經是視網膜領域的領導者了。這是眼科將成為您下一個領域的墊腳石嗎？

Like how big is the opportunity here relative to what was the opportunity in oncology? And is there anything to maybe read through in terms of expectations around biosimilars in this space? Or any other like is there analysis done where you're looking at the growth of the market or the drug opportunity in that market evolving favorably for you is also a reason to get into this?

與腫瘤學領域的機會相比，這裡的機會有多大？關於這個領域的生物相似藥的期望，有什麼值得一讀的嗎？或任何其他類似的分析，您正在關注市場的成長或該市場中的藥物機會對您有利的發展也是進入這個市場的原因嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Kevin, for the excellent question. Yes, as it relates to RCA, what we've said in the prepared remarks, and I'll just repeat now is RCA is the market leader here. So we're investing in a platform in retina that we expect to continue to grow. They will grow by adding additional physicians and they will grow through the second part of your question is we do have a strong thesis on the strength of the pharmaceutical pipeline in retina.

是的。謝謝凱文提出的好問題。是的，因為它與 RCA 有關，我們在準備好的發言中已經說過，我現在要重複的是 RCA 是這裡的市場領導者。因此，我們正在投資一個視網膜平台，我們預計該平台將繼續成長。他們將透過增加更多的醫生來成長，他們將透過你問題的第二部分來成長，我們確實有一篇關於視網膜藥物管道強度的強有力的論文。

And that includes biosimilars coming to market, but also new innovation that will be coming that will help improve patient outcomes. And again, this is where the clinical excellence of RCA is really important and also the clinical research capability they have, because RCA is not only treating the end patient at very large scale. But they're also a very key player in making sure that the clinical trials are done and that the patients have access to those trials and therefore, getting those newer products to market.

這包括即將推出的生物相似藥，以及即將推出的有助於改善患者治療效果的新創新。再說一次，這就是 RCA 卓越的臨床表現以及他們所擁有的臨床研究能力真正重要的地方，因為 RCA 不僅在大規模地治療最終患者。但他們也是確保臨床試驗完成、患者能夠參與這些試驗並因此將這些新產品推向市場的非常關鍵的參與者。

Eric Coldwell, Baird.

埃里克·科德威爾，貝爾德。

Thanks very much all. Well, I had a bunch of RCA questions, too, but I'll try to make those brief. Just quickly on ophthalmology specialty products or maybe the category overall. You're half of one of the leading manufacturers distribution volume. Is that a similar share across the entire market or are you half of the specialty market in ophthalmology?

非常感謝大家。嗯，我也有很多 RCA 問題，但我會盡量簡短。快速了解眼科專業產品或整個類別。您是分銷量領先的製造商之一的一半。整個市場的份額是否相似，或者您是眼科專業市場的一半？

Yes. So as Bob said, we are a leader in that space and that is a part of the market that we've been in for a long time. And we feel really good about not only our position and the fact that we have really no RCA quite well because they've been a customer for some time. And as Bob said, they're a leader in the space. And just to repeat, it's a market that while I know that there's been a lot of focus on oncology. But for Cencora, retina and ophthalmology have been a key driver of growth along the way as well.

是的。正如鮑勃所說，我們是該領域的領導者，這是我們長期涉足的市場的一部分。我們不僅對我們的地位感到非常滿意，而且對我們確實沒有 RCA 很好這一事實感到非常滿意，因為他們已經成為我們的客戶一段時間了。正如鮑勃所說，他們是該領域的領導者。再說一遍，雖然我知道這個市場非常關注腫瘤學。但對 Cencora 來說，視網膜和眼科也一直是成長的關鍵驅動力。

Erin Wright, Morgan Stanley.

艾琳·賴特，摩根士丹利。

Thanks. Could you speak a little bit to World Courier, just give an update on fundamental demand trends across that business and customer base? And then, yes, going back to sort of a little bit of an RCA question related is on how do you balance investments in terms of MSO type of investment versus a more direct relationship with like biopharma and life sciences partners partnerships?

謝謝。您能否向 World Courier 介紹一下該業務和客戶群的基本需求趨勢的最新情況？然後，是的，回到與 RCA 相關的一點問題是，您如何平衡 MSO 類型的投資與與生物製藥和生命科學合作夥伴關係等更直接的關係？

I know it's all kind of intertwined, but curious kind of how you think about that. And then just one quick one on just customer relationships. Just your guidance for the year. You addressed COVID and FCS, but you recently renewed your Express Scripts, Cigna contract. How would you characterize the relationship there? And any sort of changes in as well as your relationship with Walgreens? Thanks.

我知道這一切都是相互交織的，但很好奇你是如何看待這個問題的。然後是關於客戶關係的快速介紹。只是您今年的指導。您解決了新冠肺炎和 FCS 問題，但您最近續簽了 Express Scripts 和 Cigna 合約。您如何描述那裡的關係？您與沃爾格林的關係有什麼改變嗎？謝謝。

Sure. So you rallied off a couple there, and I'm going to try and make sure that we hit them all. I'll start with the Express Scripts one, no change there, a continuation of a good relationship with them. World Courier, that market continues to have some softness stemming from clinical trial development. But that being said, still, it's a good growing business, and you saw that in the quarter. I'll stop and push -- hand it over to Bob to talk a little bit about the Walgreens relationship.

當然。所以你在那裡集結了一些人​​，我將盡力確保我們擊中他們所有人。我將從 Express Scripts 開始，那裡沒有任何變化，是與他們良好關係的延續。World Courier 表示，由於臨床試驗的發展，該市場仍然表現疲軟。但話雖如此，這仍然是一項成長良好的業務，您在本季就看到了這一點。我會停下來，把它交給鮑勃，讓他談談與沃爾格林的關係。

Yes, happy to. And Erin, I'll probably touch on the broader kind of biopharma focus there for a second year because it leads on to a World Courier. I'll emphasize the point that Bennett made. World Courier is a terrific business, a leading business, and it leads in clinical trial logistics. So to the extent that clinical trial volumes continue to be down, even though they're beginning to grow, they're still down significantly from a peak in 2021. We feel great about the business. And as I said in the prepared remarks, we're very well positioned as that market comes back both in World Courier and PharmaLex.

是的，很高興。艾琳，我可能會在第二年談到更廣泛的生物製藥重點，因為它會導致《世界信使》。我將強調貝內特提出的觀點。World Courier是一家了不起的企業，一家領先的企業，它在臨床試驗物流領域處於領先地位。因此，儘管臨床試驗數量開始成長，但仍持續下降，但仍較 2021 年的高峰大幅下降。我們對這項業務感覺很好。正如我在準備好的演講中所說，隨著 World Courier 和 PharmaLex 市場的回歸，我們處於非常有利的位置。

Walgreens is a critically important strategic partner to us. We've had a long productive history together which continues. And we -- as we've said for a long time and continues now, we spend a lot of time with the Walgreens team. I would say continuously. And during that time, we're talking about what are things that we can do together to drive our businesses forward. How can we create more efficiency, what are new programs that we can develop together that are helpful to both company.

沃爾格林是我們極為重要的策略夥伴。我們共同擁有悠久而富有成效的歷史，並且仍在繼續。正如我們長期以來所說並且現在仍在繼續的那樣，我們花了很多時間與沃爾格林團隊在一起。我會不斷地說。在此期間，我們正在討論我們可以共同做哪些事情來推動我們的業務向前發展。我們如何創造更高的效率，我們可以共同開發哪些對雙方公司都有幫助的新計劃。

So we're very engaged in that. We're committed to making sure that for Walgreens and for all of our customers, one of the things that I tried to be intentional about saying is that our intention is to really understand the strategies of our customers and then align the resources of Cencora to support those strategies. And so that's true for Walgreens and our other customers as well.

所以我們非常積極地參與其中。我們致力於確保，對於沃爾格林和我們所有的客戶，我試圖有意說的一件事是，我們的目的是真正了解客戶的策略，然後將 Cencora 的資源調整到支援這些策略。對於沃爾格林和我們的其他客戶也是如此。

And you did run off a bunch of there. So I want to go back to one you asked about this versus biopharma services. I think if you go back and look at our past disclosures and past discussions on the strategy and our strategic focuses, we've always talked about looking for ways to build on our strength in specialty and to add to our services and solutions and for manufacturers. .

你確實跑掉了那裡的一群人。所以我想回到你問到的關於生物製藥服務與生物製藥服務的問題。我認為，如果你回顧我們過去的披露以及過去關於戰略和戰略重點的討論，我們總是談論尋找方法來增強我們的專業實力，並為製造商增加我們的服務和解決方案。。

And that was clearly exemplified by our OneOncology investment and also our acquisition of PharmaLex, which remains a key long-term asset for the business. And I would say that RCA really hits on both of those in that, certainly, it helps build on our leadership in specialty, but it also helps build on our value proposition to pharma given the clinical research work that they do.

我們對 OneOncology 的投資以及對 PharmaLex 的收購清楚地證明了這一點，後者仍然是該業務的關鍵長期資產。我想說的是，RCA 確實在這兩方面發揮了作用，當然，它有助於建立我們在專業領域的領導地位，但鑑於他們所做的臨床研究工作，它也有助於建立我們對製藥公司的價值主張。

Allen Lutz, Bank of America.

艾倫·盧茨，美國銀行。

Good morning and thanks for taking the questions. There was a really nice revenue acceleration quarter-over-quarter. And Bennett, you mentioned that it didn't seem like that was coming from specialty accelerating. So I guess the assumption that we have here is that that's mostly driven by GLP-1s. But is there anything outside of that piece that's worth calling out around that sequential acceleration a top line growth in the US health care business. Thanks.

早上好，感謝您提出問題。收入環比成長非常好。貝內特，你提到這似乎不是來自專業加速。所以我想我們這裡的假設是這主要是由 GLP-1 所驅動的。但除此之外，還有什麼值得關注的，圍繞著美國醫療保健產業營收的連續加速成長。謝謝。

Allen, this is Laz Krikorian. So we definitely talked about GLP-1s. We continue to see strong growth in the GLP-1 class, sales of those products in the quarter increased 55% year-over-year and 14% on a sequential basis. With respect to specialty products and distribution, we continue to see strong growth rates there as well, and they certainly were continuing to drive our top line growth.

艾倫，我是拉茲‧克里科里安。所以我們肯定談論了 GLP-1。我們繼續看到 GLP-1 類別的強勁成長，這些產品本季的銷售額年增 55%，季增 14%。在特色產品和分銷方面，我們也繼續看到強勁的成長率，它們無疑地繼續推動我們的收入成長。

Charles Rhyee, TD Cowen.

查爾斯‧萊伊 (Charles Rhyee)，TD 考恩 (TD Cowen)。

Yes, thanks for taking the question. Kind of an RCA question, but maybe more broadly about the MSO strategy. Obviously, Senator Warren had written a letter kind of expressing some concerns about distributors owning group practices or owning theses MSOs. Can you talk about sort of your thoughts on that and your response? And then secondly, maybe what is the real benefit to owning the MSOs for you beyond just the distribution? Is it really just a services business that you want to provide four physicians. Maybe just expand on sort of that aspect of it. Thank you.

是的，感謝您提出問題。有點像 RCA 問題，但也許更廣泛地涉及 MSO 策略。顯然，沃倫參議員寫了一封信，表達了對分銷商擁有集團業務或擁有這些 MSO 的一些擔憂。您能談談您對此的想法和回應嗎？其次，也許除了分銷之外，擁有 MSO 為您帶來的真正好處是什麼？您想提供四名醫生，這真的只是一項服務業務嗎？也許只是擴展它的這方面。謝謝。

Yes, thanks. This is Bob. I'll take that. Good questions. First of all, I'll start with we have utmost respect for the process that any governmental agency will go through to look at this and any senators who want to weigh in, we're happy to participate and be helpful there. As always, that's our orientation to these.

是的，謝謝。這是鮑伯。我會接受的。好問題。首先，我首先要說的是，我們非常尊重任何政府機構審查此事的程序，以及任何想要參與其中的參議員，我們很樂意參與並提供協助。一如既往，這就是我們的方向。

To your question specifically, though, is we view the MSO model as a way to really support community providers. And as I said earlier, that's core to what we've done over decades. The community providers are generally a cost effective -- a more cost-effective side of care. They are also, in many cases, more accessible to patients. So we believe our ownership and participation in the MSO space at the end of the day, enhances patient access, enhances cost effectiveness of health care and allows Cencora to continue to support these very important providers.

不過，具體針對您的問題，我們將 MSO 模型視為真正支持社群提供者的一種方式。正如我之前所說，這是我們幾十年來所做工作的核心。社區提供者通常是具有成本效益的—一種更具成本效益的照護方式。在許多情況下，它們也更容易為患者所接受。因此，我們相信，我們對 MSO 領域的所有權和參與最終會增強患者的可及性，提高醫療保健的成本效益，並使 Cencora 能夠繼續支持這些非常重要的提供者。

That concludes our Q&A session for today. I now hand back over to Bob Mauch for closing remarks. Thank you.

我們今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在請鮑伯莫奇（Bob Mauch）發表結束語。謝謝。

Thank you very much. Thanks all for the excellent questions and for the kind welcome. Again, I'm honored to be in this position. It's an incredibly strong company with an amazing culture, an incredible portfolio of customers, services and geographies. We're very well positioned, and we're going to continue to execute both operationally and strategically. So thank you all very much for your time.

非常感謝。感謝大家提出的精彩問題和熱情的歡迎。再次，我很榮幸能擔任這個職位。這是一家非常強大的公司，擁有令人驚嘆的文化、令人難以置信的客戶、服務和地理組合。我們處於非常有利的位置，我們將繼續在營運和策略上執行。非常感謝大家抽出寶貴的時間。

Thank you all for your participation on today's call. That concludes the call. You may now disconnect your lines.

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。通話結束。現在您可以斷開線路。